Her notebook in her hands.. Israeli enemy bullet ends life of Gazan girl “Ritaj”

On a morning that was supposed to be ordinary, the young girl Ritaj Rayhan came out of her displacement tent carrying her small notebook and her big dreams, heading to her school in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip. She did not know that that notebook would become a witness to a moment in which her life would end by a bullet fired by Israeli enemy soldiers, turning the classroom into a shocking scene.

Inside a tent used as a classroom at the Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah School, Ritaj was standing in front of her teacher, engrossed in solving lesson questions with her classmates. In a sudden moment, a bullet fired by occupation soldiers pierced the place, and the girl fell to the ground with her notebook in her hands, while screaming filled the classroom.

Meanwhile, the school principal, Mohammed Al-Attar, was in the school yard. He recounted what happened to the (Filastin) newspaper, saying: “When we were informed of her injury, we went immediately to try to rescue her, but there was no means of transport available.”

He adds: “We were forced to use a horse-drawn cart to transport her until we reached an ambulance that took us to the Jabalia health center, where her martyrdom was announced.”

Al-Attar confirms that the incident left a state of intense fear among the students, prompting the administration to take emergency measures, including delaying school hours, moving the tents to safer locations, in addition to implementing a psychological support program to mitigate the effects of the trauma.

At home, Ritaj’s mother received the news as a harsh shock. She did not believe it at first, before hope turned into painful certainty. The mother, who waited five years to be blessed with her daughter after a journey of treatment, lost her in a moment.

She recalls the details of her last morning: A new dress Ritaj joyfully chose, and she asked to decorate it with accessories. That dress was the fruit of daily savings despite the difficult circumstances, a small joy that was not completed.

Today, Ritaj has not returned to her seat, but her notebook remains a witness to the story of a girl who came out to learn, and a bullet ended her life inside the classroom.

In Gaza, bullets do not only kill bodies… they strike childhood in its heart, leaving behind suspended dreams that find no way to life.